


More eye-opening experiences

by Edom



Series: Eye-opening experiences [2]
Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Anti-Ethan, Anti-Lindsay, Anti-Mikey, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-19
Updated: 2010-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-13 06:59:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/134300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edom/pseuds/Edom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day after the scene at the loft Brian and Justin gets news that the loft beneath their own is for sale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Duplex

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by TayTay4936

**Brian POV ******

Monday morning, we went to the diner for breakfast before I took Justin to PIFA. Michael, Ted and Emmett were already sitting in a booth when we got there. We sat down with them and ordered our food.

“So, you like to take it up the ass like the rest of us, huh Bri?” Ted said.

“Hello, my name is Brian Kinney; I’m a fag,” I said sarcastically. “Of course I like to take it up the ass on occasion; all fags do. I just prefer to have the best, and since not many men are as good as me, I haven’t indulged often.”

“So, what you’re telling us is that Justin is as good a top as you are?” Emmett asked with a glint in his eyes.

“Of course he is. I’ve taught him everything he knows, in bed anyway.” I winked at Justin and he just beamed at me.

“I’m sure you can find someone who is better than Justin next time you get an itch.” I looked at Michael and wondered what the fuck was going on in that head of his.

“Michael, I’m quite sure you heard that Justin and I got married, since you had to make a lame ass comment about it. I have absolutely no intention of ever getting fucked by, or fucking, for that matter, anybody but Justin ever again.”

All three of them dropped their jaws over that one, and Justin and I laughed at them.

“What the fuck did you think it meant?”

“That things would be like they’ve always been, like they’re supposed to be,” Michael whined.

“Supposed to be, Mikey? How are things supposed to be?”

“You are the stud of Liberty Avenue, the super top who is with a new guy every night, sometimes two or three, and never the same one twice.”

“But, Mikey, I’m married now; and I haven’t been that man for quite some time now. I have done the same man more than once. In fact, I do believe we are in the quadruple digits by now, and it is the best god damn sex every single time; and you know I never go for anything but the best.” I smirked and Emmett and Ted laughed.

“But, Brian, it was never supposed to be like that; you and me were supposed to be two old queens in Palm Beach.”

“Mikey, when did I say that?”

“When we were sixteen.”

“Ok, did I have plans of ever getting old when I was sixteen?”

“No, you wanted to die young, go out in a blaze of glory like James Dean.”

“Then what the fuck made you believe that we would get to be two old queens in Palm Beach?” I was really exasperated with him.

He looked crestfallen and I felt a little sorry for him, until he opened his mouth.

“But, Brian, you could do so much better than that dumb ass twink.”

“Michael, I’m sitting right here and my hearing isn’t in any way impaired. If you plan on ever being invited to our loft ever again, I suggest that you shut your big mouth this fucking instant.” Ok, Justin was seriously pissed off.

“You can’t say who gets invited to Brian’s loft.” Michael was looking down his nose at Justin.

“Michael, are you really that dumb? We are married; everything I own is half Justin’s and the other way around.”

“The difference is that he doesn’t own anything.” Michael was feeling really superior right then for some reason I really couldn’t figure out.

“Sure I do, Michael. I own half of Rage. Which means Brian and I now own a quarter each.”

Michael’s eyes actually lit up at this, and I knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth and put his foot in it.

“That means that he and I have a majority and can decide what we want to do with the storyline; we can even kill off JT.”

“Holy shit, Michael! Are you really that stupid? Do you really think that I would ever make a decision about Rage that went against Justin? He is my fucking husband. I have tried to tell you this for the past half fucking hour. I will always support him over anybody else, and that includes you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I have to drive my husband to school and then go to work. I’ll see you there, Theodore.”

With that, we got up and left the diner with Michael whining after us.

“Briiannn.”

 **Justin POV ******

When we were sitting in the car, my phone rang.

“Hi, Mom; what’s up?”

“Hello, honey. I have just gotten a new listing and I wanted to tell you and Brian about it before I told anybody else, kind of give you first refusal.”

“Ok, what is it?”

“It’s the loft directly under yours. It’s about twice the size of the one you have now.”

“Hang on, Mom. Brian, my mother got the listing for the loft beneath ours. She says it’s twice the size of the one we have now and she is giving us first refusal.”

“Shit,” he said, and pulled the car over. He got out and went around to the passenger side; he opened the door and motioned me out. When I got out, he grabbed my phone and got in the passenger side. “You drive; I’ll talk to Mother Taylor.”

Ok, I had no idea what just happened, but I got in the driver’s side and proceeded to PIFA while my mother and Brian talked about a lot of stuff I had absolutely no idea of what was, considering I could only hear one side of the conversation. When he finally got off the phone, he looked at me funny.

“How would you like to have half of our current loft as your studio while we use the other half as an office? If we buy the loft downstairs, we can have a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, a room for Gus and a guest room down there.”

“Oh my god; that would be fantastic, but can we afford it?”

“It sounds like the loft needs a lot of work and, therefore, the asking price isn’t all that high. If we can get a decent offer for the construction work, I don’t see why not. I’ll ask Ted to go over it when I get into the office. What do you think, Sunshine? Should we get ourselves a duplex?”

“If Ted gives the all clear, I think you should call my mother and tell her to go ahead and make an offer.”

Just then, we pulled up to PIFA. We got out of the car and kissed goodbye before he got in the driver’s side and drove off. I went to school but had a hard time concentrating.

 **Brian POV ******

I got to the office and the first thing I did was call Ted to my office.

“Ted, Jennifer just called to give us first refusal to the loft beneath the one we have now. Would you give her a call and get all the numbers from her? I would like you to run the numbers and get some proposals for the renovations.”

“Wow, that sounds incredible; I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks, Theodore.”

After Ted left, I tried working for a while but had a hard time concentrating. When it was time for Justin’s last class, I gave up all pretence for working and told Cynthia that I was leaving for the day.

I drove to PIFA and got there just in time to see Justin leave the institute. What I saw next made my blood run cold. Ethan Gold came up to him and grabbed his arm. Justin looked shocked to see him, and then pissed as hell. That helped my mood considerably. I got out of the car and strolled towards them. I got close enough just in time to hear Justin say…

“Look, Ethan. I’m married and not the least bit interested in hearing a thing you have to say.”

“Married?”

He sounded devastated; that is a good thing, in my opinion.

“Yes, married. I got married in Hawaii two weeks ago.”

“To whom?”

“Me,”

I said just as I got to them. The fiddler just gaped at me and then started laughing.

“Do you seriously want me to believe that the whore of Liberty Avenue actually agreed to get married?”

“No, I didn’t agree. I was the one who asked, so technically Justin agreed to marry me.”

I showed him my ring and he faltered just before turning on his heel and leaving.

“What are you doing here?”

Justin asked happily after having kissed me.

“I couldn’t concentrate at work. I figured we could call your mother and get her to show us the new loft.”

“Sounds like a plan. I couldn’t concentrate worth shit today either.”

He called his mother, who agreed to meet us at the downstairs loft in 2 hours that gave us just enough time to go home and fuck, take a shower and go downstairs.

“Hello, Jennifer. You are looking lovely this afternoon.”

She laughed and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Bitch; she knows I hate it when she acts like a mother-in-law, even if that is what she is. She gave Justin a hug and finally opened the door to what was hopefully our new loft.

The place was huge; like Jennifer said, it was twice the size of our current loft. The kitchen was in the same place as the one upstairs, but open on all four sides with an island in the middle. The master bath and bedroom were in the same place as well, but the bedroom was twice as large as the one we have now. It went out a little further, but more importantly, it went all the way to the windows. The rest of the area by the windows appeared to be the dining area.

On the other side of the kitchen was a living room the same size as the original loft; except along the same wall as the master bath were two rooms with a little bathroom each. One of these rooms will be perfect for Gus and the other one could be a guest room, even though we rarely have overnight guests. It really did look very run down, but I could see a lot of potential in the space and I hoped we can afford it.

“This is great, or it can be when it is done.”

Justin had a light in his eyes that I know all too well.

“Now, don’t go getting too excited, Sunshine. Ted might tell us that there is no way in hell we’ll be able to afford the place; and if we do, we might not be able to afford the renovations.”

“I know, but don’t you think it could be great?”

“Yeah, I do,”

I conceded, and he gave me a huge smile.

“I already have ideas for colors and stuff.”

“I know. I can tell by the light in your eyes.”

I winked at Jennifer and she laughed.

“I know what you mean; that light scares me too.”

Justin just stuck his tongue out at us and we laughed a little more at that.


	2. Plans form

**Brian POV ******

As it turned out, there was no problem affording the second loft. It really was very cheap, and the construction could apparently be done fairly quickly and at not too high a price. We talked to a couple of contractors and chose one who seemed to know what the fuck he was talking about. He told us it would take about two weeks to complete the downstairs repairs, another week for the old loft, and then another couple of days to make a hole for the stairs and install them. He had a lot of people working on the project, which is why it wouldn’t take all that long.

We signed the paperwork for the new loft, and the same day, Dale Philips and his crew started the work. We went to the diner for lunch after we had let them in. We were laughing and goofing around as we walked in the door. I walked in first, looking back at Justin, when I heard Mikey whine.

“Brian, why don’t I ever see you? You never go to Babylon with us anymore.”

We sat on a couple of chairs at the end of the booth where Ted, Emmett, Mikey, and the professor were already seated.

“Well, Mikey, you’re seeing me now. The reason you haven’t seen me at Babylon is because we’ve been busy. We just signed the lease on the loft downstairs from the one we have now. The contractor just started the renovations before we came here.”

Ted already knew, of course, but Emmett and the professor congratulated us.

“How big is the new loft?”

Emmett looked so enthusiastic.

“It’s about twice the size of our current loft.”

“Oh my god, that’s a lot of space. Are you selling the old one?”

“Nope; half will be an office and the other half will be Justin’s studio.”

“Oooh, that sounds fabulous. When will it be ready?”

“The renovations will take about two weeks.”

Justin was almost jumping with excitement and I had to smile. I was looking forward to seeing the finished result, too.

“What about the old loft? How long will it take to convert that?”

“The contractor said about a week and then another couple of days to fit in the stairs. It could have been done faster if we didn’t need to live there.”

Mikey had looked like he smelled something foul during the whole exchange.

“What’s with you, Mikey?”

“I just don’t understand why you would want to buy real estate with him. You only tie yourself closer to him and make it harder to get rid of him.”

“Michael!”

Emmett, Ted, and Ben all sounded shocked, but I just felt sad. I knew he didn’t like Justin; hell, I had probably done everything to make him believe the things he did, but I had hoped that he would accept it after we got married.

“Michael, I can’t get more tied to him than I already am; we’re married. We even filed for domestic partnership here in Pennsylvania, drew up wills, we have each other’s POA, and now jointly own any present and future business ventures.”

“What, but I have your POA. We promised to pull each other’s plugs after Ted’s coma.”

Mikey looked like he was about to cry.

“I know, but when Justin was in the hospital, I felt so fucking useless. There was absolutely nothing I could do. I couldn’t even make a single fucking decision, and it was driving me crazy. After Justin got a little better, we both had POA’s drawn up for each other and we haven’t changed them since.”

They were all gaping at us, and when I looked at Justin, I could see that he was thinking the same thing I was. We both knew what would come next.

“Not even after he left you for the fiddler?”

Mikey sounded betrayed.

“Nope; not even then,”

Justin said matter of factly.

“Wow, why not?”

Emmett looked like a big question mark.

“Because we trust each other to do the right thing. Plus, Ethan would probably have left me on a fucking ventilator for years in some sort of romantic delusion.”

I chuckled; I couldn’t help myself. Justin just sounds so exasperated every time he talks about the fiddler, and that is so very good for my ego. Plus, he was probably right; the fucking romantic idiot probably would have left him lying there for years on end. Justin gave me a sideways smirk; I think he knew what I was thinking.

“Well, I think it’s fabulous. I can’t wait to see the new loft.”

Emmett is always trying to sooth ruffled feathers and steer the conversation away from confrontations.

“But, Brian, I’m your best friend.”

I saw the expression on Ben’s face and figured I could try to drive my point home.

“Who has your POA, Professor?”

“Michael does. We talked about it after that time I was in the hospital and agreed that he should be able to make medical decisions if I wasn’t able to. I just thought it worked both ways; stupid me.”

With that, he got up and left the diner.

“Nice one, Michael.”

I was pissed enough at him to call him by his full name.

“What?”

Michael sounded truly stymied.

“Michael, you and Ben talked about you having his POA so that you could make decisions if he was ever incapable of doing it for himself. You don’t think he assumed that it would go both ways? What if something had happened to you and he had found out that you never changed yours from me to him. How do you suppose he would feel then? He’s supposed to be your husband; why the fuck haven’t you changed it?”

“Because we had a deal and you are my best friend.”

Now he just sounded petulant.

I just shook my head and stood up to leave. Justin followed me out the door to the sound of Michael’s whining. We drove back to the loft and went into the downstairs space first. We wanted to get a sit rep from Dale Philips and see what had been done so far, not that we expected too much considering we had only been gone about an hour and a half.

Dale greeted us at the door and took us around the space. They had already started to spackle the walls; they had several large holes that looked like someone had kicked and punched them. We had heard some mighty fights down here, but never any where they got violent with each other. The reason the loft was even for sale was because they were breaking up and neither of them could afford to live there alone.

“When the walls are done, we’ll start with the electricity and plumbing. Then, we’ll paint and put in the new hardwood floors.”

We both nodded; he had already told us all that.

“It looks like you’re doing a good job. When do you call it quits each day?”

“Around five. You shouldn’t be too inconvenienced by the noise in the evenings that way.”

“Thanks, Dale.”

We went to the upstairs loft and I jumped him as soon as the door was closed. I had him up against the cold steel of the door and my mouth was on his. I had my hands all over him and it took a little while before he recovered from the shock enough to reciprocate.

“Holy shit, Brian; what was that?”

“That was for not going off on Michael at the diner.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, but if you want to know the truth, I hardly hear a thing he says anymore; it is all so much white noise.”

He giggled and I couldn’t help the snort that escaped me.

“You’re a brat, Sunshine.”

“I know, but not nearly as big a brat as Michael. Nobody is as big a brat as Michael.”

He had gotten serious and I had to agree with him. Michael could be a royal pain when things don’t go the way he wants them to.

We had a great couple of hours in bed sucking and fucking both of us into a sated state of happiness. We were lying in bed, him with his head on my shoulder, drawing lazy concentric circles on my chest.

“You know, Brian, we should do something to celebrate our wedding. Maybe combine it with a housewarming for the new loft?”

“Hmm, that sounds like a good idea; just promise me that we plan it ourselves. We can have it catered, but I don’t want Emmett, your mother or Deb to take over; it will turn into something that is not us.”

“Deal, but that means not telling anybody before we send out the invitations.”

“Deal.”

“I mean it, Brian, not even Michael or Lindsay.”

“I get it, Justin. Michael would talk my fucking ear off about it anyway, and I don’t want to hear it.”

“Then we just have to figure out a date and get started.”

“How about a month from today, well, four weeks. That gives us plenty of time; plus, the renovations should be done by then.”

“Sounds good.”

Now we just had to figure out all the rest, like what to serve the masses, how to decorate, IF we decorate, what the invitations should look like. You know; nice little queer stuff like that. I started smirking. I have no idea how, but he somehow felt it and raised his head looking at me with one eyebrow. He had so stolen the expression from me, twat.

“What’s so funny?”

I just thought that now all the nice little queer stuff had to be worked out, like decorations and invitations.”

He laughed, and I couldn’t help but join in. It was such a stupid, silly thing to think, let alone say, and I’m hardly ever silly. He laid his head back down and continued with the circles. After a little while, we decided to get up, take a shower, and order some food. Justin wanted to go online to look at restaurants that cater. He wanted to get started and I had to agree; there was the possibility that some of the better places would be busy a long time into the future and we might have to look for a while before we found a place that could do it.

When dinner arrived, he had found four places that sounded promising. He had printed the information and we looked at it while we ate. We decided on one and agreed that I should call them first thing tomorrow to find out if they could do it.

With that out of the way and dinner finished, we went back to bed for some more fucking before sleep.


	3. A party emerges

**Justin POV ******

When we woke up the next day, I had an epiphany and told Brian about it. He agreed and we started making some plans.

After the plans were executed, we decided to take a shower and go eat breakfast. Brian had to go to work and I was going to PIFA.

Thank god I’m almost done there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m learning tons of stuff that I can use, but I so want to start making some money. I’m fucking tired of strangers and their assumptions about my relationship with Brian. They think he’s my sugar daddy and it pisses me off. I’ve never told Brian this; he would tell me to not be a twat and ask why I give a fuck what anybody else thinks.

The thing is, they treat me accordingly, even some of the family. Well, only really Michael and maybe in the dark recesses of her mind, Lindsay, and it ticks me off that the two people who claim to know and love Brian best, assume I couldn’t possibly be with him because I love him as much as they do, well more, really.

That they think I could only be with him because of the money tells more about them than it does about Brian or me. God, I didn’t leave him when he lost everything after the Stockwell debacle; that should have told them that it’s not a question of money.

Fuck, I have to start concentrating. I haven’t heard a single word the professor has said so far and that’s just fucking stupid. When I’m actually here, I might as well get as much out of it as possible; otherwise, I might as well have ditched today.

 **Brian POV ******

Justin’s idea this morning had merit, which is why I went along with it. Now, I just have to find a way to concentrate on my work. There was something in his face when he got out of the car at PIFA this morning. Determination, that’s what it was. He is determined to graduate as fast as humanly possible, faster if he could get away with it.

I know that a lot of people have some preconceived notions about why we are together. Justin strokes my ego, being so young and seemingly catering to my every whim, letting me get away with murder. I’m his sugar daddy and not a bad fuck at that. The thing is, people don’t know shit. Justin and I are together because we love, trust, and respect each other. No way would either of us stay with somebody for just those other reasons. We would get so fucking bored out of our minds that we’d kill somebody, probably ourselves.

I know it pisses him off, it pisses me off too, but I can abstract from it. I’m so used to people’s low opinion of me. People think I’m an egotistical, cold asshole, and they can’t believe that anybody could love someone like that, and since I’m an egotistical, cold asshole, they can’t believe that I can love at all.

Shit, I have to get some work done; I have a client meeting in an hour, and I have to prepare. I’ll talk to him over dinner tonight.

 **Justin POV ******

When I get home after school, I hurry up and finish my homework. We are going out tonight and I don’t want that hanging over my head the whole night.

When I’m done, I go look in the closet to see what I have I can wear tonight. I find a pair of black dress pants and a blue cashmere V-neck sweater.

Just as I’ve laid it out on the bed and begun to take off my clothes to take a shower, the door opens and Brian is home. He puts down his briefcase and walks up the steps to the bedroom. He stops when he sees me, half-naked and getting harder by the second. He smirks that damn sexy smirk of his.

“Well, Sunshine, that’s some sight to come home to.”

“Yeah, well, you can always join me for in a shower for some afternoon delight.”

I wink at him and he laughs.

“Afternoon delight? That’s really what you want to call it?”

“Sure, why not?”

He just keeps laughing at me, but at least he starts stripping, so I take off my boxer briefs and go into the bathroom. I turn on the water and set the temperature before getting under the spray. Brian joins me seconds later. He goes under the spray, pushing me out.

“Hey!”

I slap him playfully across the chest and he laughs while he pulls me into his arms. He kisses me and then spins me around and pins me up against the glass wall. He sucks on the back of my neck while one of his hands sneaks around my torso to pinch one of my nipples. I arch my back and moan low in my throat. He grabs the lube and prepares me before pushing in to me. We stopped using condoms two days ago, when our test results came back, both negative.

He pushes into me ever so slowly and it is driving me absolutely insane. He knows it, too, which is why he does it.

“Come on, Brian, fuck me, harder, faster; you’re driving me nuts.”

He chuckles, but complies. Soon, he’s pounding into me and I can hardly breathe, but it feels so good. It’s over way too soon, and I’m cumming in thick streams. At the same time, I feel his cum shoot up my ass; that’s a feeling I don’t think I’ll ever get used to, the fact that I can feel his cum inside me. It’s a fucking amazing feeling.

He pulls out carefully and we wash up. That’s one of the distinct advantages of shower fucks; they’re a lot less messy than fucking anywhere else. Especially since we don’t use condoms any more.

 **Brian POV ******

After we’re finished in the shower, we dry each other off and go put on some clothes before going out. We have decided that we want to try out three of the four restaurants we had looked at to cater the house warming party/wedding reception. That way, we can get an honest idea what they’re really like. If we book a meeting and tell them we want to taste the kind of food they can provide, they might try a little harder just to get the job. If we just show up as normal guests at the restaurant, we are treated to the quality they usually produce.

The first one was The Taj Mahal. We both like Indian food, but weren’t too sure about the rest of the family. The food turned out to be excellent, not too spicy; we figured that the family would probably survive. We still wanted to try the other two before making our decision, though.

Atrias Restaurant & Tavern was next. We did that the next day, Saturday, for lunch. The food was ok, but not good enough for our wedding reception. I really have a hard time recognizing myself sometimes. Is it really Brian Fucking Kinney that thinks things like that? Am I really in the midst of trying to plan the perfect wedding reception for me and my husband? Is it really Brian Kinney, asshole extraordinaire, that even has a husband? You see, the thing is, I really wouldn’t change a fucking thing. I love Justin and I have even admitted to myself, and him, that he’s the only one I want to fuck; imagine that.

Anyway, after lunch, we went to the bakery on Liberty Avenue to order a cake. We didn’t want a traditional wedding cake; we wanted something different, something special, and uniquely us.

“Well, well, well, Mr. Kinney, what can I do for you today?”

the queen behind the counter coos at me. I have no idea how he knows me. I certainly don’t remember ever seeing him before.

“Yes, we’re here to order a wedding cake,”

I say as I pull Justin in front of me and put my arm around him. The man does a double take, but recovers quickly.

“Oh, I’ll find our catalogue and we can sit down and find out what exactly you’re looking for.”

He reaches down under the counter, comes up with a thick binder, and points us towards the table in the back of the shop.

We sit down and he opens up the book.

“Ok, first things first. Do you have some sort of idea what kind of cake you want?”

Justin looks at me and I can see that he has some kind of idea.

“Go ahead, Sunshine, I can see it in your face.”

I smirk at him and he smiles brightly.

“Well I was thinking that I wanted a 6-layer cake, each layer in one of the colors of the pride rainbow. That way we can also have 6 different kinds of cake.”

“Hm, that actually has merit; each layer would just have to be small; not that many people are going to be at the reception.”

“True, is that possible?”

“Of course, it sounds divine. Now you just have to decide what kind of cake you want for the different layers.”

He opened up to a page with all the different cake types. First, we had to decide what base flavors we wanted and settled on the following six: Sour cream chocolate, Butter, Marble, Carrot, Banana spice, and Lemon poppy seed.

Then, it was filling, and for that, we chose these: Raspberry, Strawberry, Cheery, Apple, Pineapple, and Mango. We wanted the cakes to be fresh, not too sickly sweet.

The layers would then be covered with colored glazing. In the rainbow colors. It was going to be beautiful, according to Justin. I couldn’t help but chuckle at him when he said that, and he slapped me lightly on the arm, but he chuckled a little, himself.

After that was done, we talked about buying decorations. Justin wanted rainbow colors for that too, but I refused.

“Simple, tasteful white, Sunshine, there is enough pride with the cake. This is not strictly a wedding reception, and it is definitely not pride weekend.”

“Ok, you’re right; it’s also a housewarming party for our new duplex.”

We smiled at each other, the way we always do when we talk about that. We are both really looking forward to it.

We decided to just buy white and silver balloons and then get some white flowers and candles to put all around the place.

I had a surprise for him. We’d never actually gotten wedding bands, and I know that bothered him, so I had some custom made. I drove to the jeweler and he looked confused.

“You wanted wedding bands, Sunshine, so we are getting wedding bands.”

He jumped into my arms, as much as that’s possible inside the ‘Vette, before we got out to go into the store.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“Hi, my name is Brian Kinney. I have some rings on special order. I was told they’d be ready today.”

“Certainly, sir, I’ll just go and find them; just a moment, please.”

He went into the back and I could see that the curiosity was killing Justin, and I have to confess I loved every second of it. When the jeweler came back, he was carrying a small tray lined with black satin. On top of the tray lay our rings.

They were fairly wide, and in the middle of them was a groove which held the following: one red diamond, one orange diamond, one yellow diamond, one green diamond, one blue diamond, and one purple diamond.

 **Justin POV ******

Holy shit. I didn’t know that diamonds came in that many colors.

“Brian, they’re beautiful, but how…”

“How did I know you wanted a wedding ring, or how did I know you wanted some kind of jewelry with the rainbow symbol in it?”

“Both, actually.”

“I know you, Sunshine, better than anyone. I have seen you look at Mel and Lindz’s rings as well as Mikey and the professor’s. I have also seen you stare at pride bracelets and necklaces every time we walk by the street vendors on Liberty.”

I knew he paid as much attention to my desires as I do to his, but I thought I had been subtle; apparently, not subtle enough. I didn’t want to push him into anything; I wasn’t sure he would want to wear a wedding ring, and the pride jewelry, I planned on buying that for myself if I ever saw something I liked enough. This way, he had gotten me both.

“What metal is it, platinum?”

“Of course; you didn’t think I would ever wear anything else.”

He smirks at me and I can’t help but laugh at him, I’m just so damn happy.

By now, it was time for dinner and that was at Hoffstot's Cafe Monaco. We were seated, and ordered a bottle of champagne; it’s not every day you plan your own wedding reception. We had decided to put the rings on at the party. That way, the family would be present for at least some of our commitment ceremony, even if it was just a small part.

The food at the restaurant was superb and we decided to go with them, if they could fit us in. With that done, all there was left was the invitations.


	4. Invitations

**Brian POV ******

I’m quite pleased to say that I have instilled some sense of style and taste into the boy over the years we’ve been together. When we went to look at invitations, he agreed with me on the cream-colored ones. They were simple yet classic and with black writing; they would be beautiful.

We chose a font that was sweeping and bold, just like us. The text would go something like this:

It would please the Taylor-Kinney’s to see you for a housewarming / wedding reception on Saturday June 18 at 6 PM.

We were fairly certain that at least a few of our friends and family would react to the fact that we had changed our names; we had kept that little tidbit from everyone so far. We ordered them on Monday; they would be done by Friday. That way, we could send them out, and people would have them on Saturday, 3 weeks before the reception. That ought to be enough time; there was no way in hell either our friends or family would want to miss it, and they would likely cancel whatever else they could have planned for that day.

After ordering the invitations, we went to a little Italian restaurant for dinner and we talked about how we wanted to do the whole rings thing.

We agreed that doing it at the beginning of the reception would be the best idea. We would give people a tour of the loft first, and then serve champagne and make a toast. A part of the toast would be a presentation of the rings, and then, we’d put them on. That way, everybody would be paying attention, and it was a way of establishing that it was a wedding reception.

When we came home, we went to the downstairs loft first. There weren’t any lamps at the loft, but Dale had put up some powerful lights for them to work by, if the sun should disappear behind a cloud or something. We turned them on and looked around. The space that houses the TV nook upstairs is a walk-in closet down here. It’s really big and beautiful; the entire wall on the end was a mirror. The shelves were made of ash, and there was a plush deep maroon carpet on the floor. There was inlaid lighting both in the ceiling and on the bottom of each shelf.

This was the first ‘room’ to be completed, and we both approved wholeheartedly. It was amazing and just what we had imagined.

We went back out to the bedroom and looked around; that room was almost complete too; all that was left was the color on the one wall that wasn’t going to be white. The wall opposite the door was going to be the same maroon as the carpet in the closet, and so were the throw rugs that would be placed on either side of the bed. Other than the two rugs, the hardwood floor would be bare.

Next, it was the master bath. It was a little larger than the one upstairs, since the whole suite went out a little further than upstairs. This was the second room to be done and it had black marble tiles on both the floor and the walls. The shower was as big as the old one, the glass in the shower walls were opaque white to break up all the black. In addition to the shower, there was a large sunken tub. That was Justin’s idea, and when he spun a tale of the two of us fucking in the warm water, I was all for it.

The rest of the loft wasn’t done yet and we decided to look at that once it was, so we went upstairs to go to bed.

 **Justin POV ******

We picked up the invitations on Friday and they looked amazing. We sent them out, and then, we just had to wait for the fireworks. I was absolutely certain that at least Michael would freak about the names on the invitation.

The restaurant, fortunately, had an opening to do the catering for the party, and we had ordered everything on Tuesday.

The bedroom was done, and so was Gus’ room and bathroom. They had started on the guest bedroom and bath and the kitchen was almost done. The only thing they hadn’t started yet was the living room, but according to the plan, they still had a week before the loft had to be done.

The place was going to be absolutely breathtaking. We had started decorating as soon as they were done with the renovations of each room. We had already bought a new bed, one only Brian and I would ever sleep in. I loved that thought. The bedroom was all done and we had started on Gus’ room. We had found a great bed for him. It was a low loft bed with an angled ladder and a curtain underneath, made to look like a little house.

I am going to paint the walls to look like a garden filled with mysterious creatures and fairies; he did have four gay parents after all. Brian doesn’t hate that idea, which was a relief, but I’d have done it even if he did. This is my home, too, and I know Gus is going to love it. I’m starting the project tomorrow and should be done in about three days. I have it all sketched out, already.

 **Jennifer POV ******

Molly came in with the mail, threw it on the table, and ran to her room; pre-teens are not fun. I looked through the mail and saw a cream-colored envelope in very high quality. I opened it very carefully, so as not to destroy it, and took out the card inside.

‘Oh my god, I didn’t know they changed their last names, or that they were planning a party. This is going to be great, oh god, I have to go shopping for new dresses for Molly and me.’

Those were the first thoughts running through my head when I saw it, and then, I flopped down in the nearest chair. A stray tear ran down my cheek and I realized that my son actually had everything he ever dreamt about. I couldn’t be anything but happy for him, and for Brian, too; he may have had a hard time admitting it, but he loved Justin and would probably do anything for him. A mother couldn’t wish for more.

 **Debbie POV ******

I picked up the mail from the floor in front of the door and immediately saw the thick cream envelopes, one for Carl and me, and one for Emmett. I had a good idea what they were and I was so fucking happy. I opened mine and took out the card.

“Holy fuck.”

I said it rather loudly, and Emmett came running from his room.

“What is it, Deb?”

I handed him his own envelope and he opened it, looking at me while he did. When he had pulled out the card, he looked down and his eyes widened.

 **Emmett POV ******

The first thought was ‘oh my, they changed their names’, the next one was ‘why didn’t they ask me to be their planner’. I couldn’t stay mad at them; I was too happy for them for that.

I looked at Deb and she had a big smile on her face.

“I’m so happy for those two. Besides, it’s about time Brian admits how much he loves Sunshine.”

I nodded, because it really was.

“You know what this means?”

She gave me a confused look.

“We have to go shopping for new clothes for this shindig.”

 **Ted POV ******

I got Brian and Justin’s invitation today. It wasn’t that big of a surprise; I am handling both their personal finances as well as Kinnetik’s. I even knew about the name change; it’s kinda hard not to notice the change on all official papers and bank accounts.

I guess I’ll break out one of my new suits for the occasion.

 **Cynthia POV ******

Yes, finally! I have been bugging Brian about having a reception for their wedding, and apparently, he listened, or Justin had asked him, too. He already told me about the name thing, and I’m so happy for the both of them; it really does show that they are serious about this. Something like a name identifies us a lot more than we think. I mean, Brian has been Brian Fucking Kinney for so long, and now, he’s Brian Taylor-Kinney, married, and off the market, permanently if I’m not mistaken. There is no way Justin is ever letting his man go.

Now, all I have to do is find the perfect dress.

 **Daphne POV ******

I was doing a little happy dance in my living room when I opened the invitation. Justin was finally exactly where he wanted to be, with no threat to get booted out. He had even gotten Brian to change his last name, no small feat, I was sure.

I remembered the first time I heard the name Brian Kinney. Justin told me he had just seen the face of god; I thought he had lost his mind, but look at him now; five years later and they’re still together.

I have to go shopping for a new dress, yay.

 **Mel POV ******

I dropped the card when I had read it. Holy fuck, Justin got the asshole to change his last name. I have to hand it to the kid; he really did it. He defied every single one of us who ever told him it couldn’t be done. He made Brian fall in love with him, completely head over heels in love. He should have been a lawyer; he would never have lost a case with those powers of persuasion.

I guess I’ll have to come up with something nice to wear, for Justin.

 **Lindsay POV ******

I got home and Mel handed me a card wordlessly. After I read it, I had to sit down. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Justin actually somehow managed to get Brian to marry him, he also made him change his name! Brian is defined by his name; he’s Brian Fucking Kinney, not some kind of domesticated, hyphenated pet. I have a bad feeling that Justin is going to live to regret doing this. Once Brian wakes up from whatever stupor Justin has put him in, he is going to be so nasty to the poor kid that Justin won’t know what hit him.

For Brian’s sake, I’ll find something stunning to wear, though.

 **Hunter POV ******

How the fuck did Blondie get Brian to change his last name? He must give an amazing blowjob.

Fuck, Ben and Michael are going to make me wear a suit to this fucking thing.

 **Ben POV ******

I found the invitation on the table when I came home; Hunter had already opened it. I knew Michael was going to react badly, so I was trying to steel myself for that.

I went looking in our closet and pulled out my best suit. I hadn’t worn it in a long time, so I tried it on, just to make sure; it still fit me like a glove.

 **Michael POV ******

Fucking little shit got Brian to change his last name. How the fuck did he do that? Brian is like some kind of pod-person these days; I hardly recognize my best friend anymore.

I’m not even sure I want to go to this farce, but when I go upstairs, I see Ben trying on his suit. I know he would never understand if I told him I didn’t want to go. I don’t want to disappoint him; I hate when he looks at me with that understanding, almost pitying look in his eyes. So, I’ll go and make nice with the Boy Wonder, drink some of their expensive booze and eat their expensive food and pretend it’s not killing me that it’s not me living that life instead of that little blond interloping brat.

I guess I better get out my suit and see if it’s still ok.


	5. Construction completed

**Justin POV ******

Surprisingly, we didn’t hear a thing from either Michael or Lindsay about the fact that we have changed our last names. I have to admit that it makes me a little nervous; I have to wonder what, if anything, they are planning.

We did hear from everybody, though, over the next week. The first one was my mom.

“Oh, honey, I’m so glad you are having a reception; I was worried I wouldn’t get the chance to celebrate your wedding. Molly and I will be there, of course. I can’t wait to see what you have done with the new space. It’s so exciting.”

She sounded excited, maybe a little more than was warranted, but then, that’s my mom.

The downstairs loft was finished on time and we had moved down there. We moved the furniture from the living room upstairs to the new living room, and the same for the dining room.

The next one to answer was Deb.

“Sunshine, it’s about fucking time the asshole admitted that he loves you and did something to celebrate it. You better believe that Carl and I will be there to help you do that.”

Well, not exactly a warm and fuzzy conversation, but I never expected that from Deb.

We decided that we really didn’t need a guestroom, so the extra bedroom became a workout room. We put Brian’s treadmill in there and set up a TV and DVD player. I had started doing some yoga, much to Brian’s amusement, but I was sure the added flexibility would be greatly appreciated once I got that far. We had Dale move the door to the bathroom connected to that room so that you could access the bathroom from the living room instead of the gym, as the room had been dubbed.

Brian had the brilliant idea of selling the old platform bed, and he got a staggering thousand dollars for it. I guess it was legendary and whoever bought it hoped the bed came with some good luck, or maybe, he just wanted to lure fags home by telling them that he had Brian Kinney’s old bed. He didn’t even include the mattress; we threw that one out; it had seen more than enough action.

Next in line was Mel and Lindz. To my surprise, it was Mel who called; I had been sure that Lindz would have called Brian, maybe tried convincing him that changing his name was a horrible idea, all the while congratulating him in the most falsely sincere way.

“Hey, baby, thank you for the invitation. I hope you know what you’re doing, but if this is what you want, I’m happy for you. We’ll all be there, of course. I’m sure Gus would flay us alive if we didn’t go.”

She laughed and I joined her, because she was right. Gus might look forward to this party as much as I do.

Gus was actually the only one who had seen the new loft; we wanted to make sure he liked his new room. He loved it, and he almost didn’t want to leave when it was time to go home again.

I had painted all the fairies on the wall with the faces of the family. The ones closest to the head of the bed were Lindz, Mel, Brian and I. The rest of the family was spread all over the wall. Gus, himself, was there, too: right in the middle of the forest, but he was depicted as a real boy, playing with all the fairies.

When he saw the mural, he clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

“That’s me, and Daddy, and Daddy Justin, and Mommy and Mama and everybody.”

The smile on his face was so joyous that I felt my eyes water and I could see the love shining from Brian’s eyes and I think I saw a little moisture in there, too.

“There’s more under the bed, Sonny Boy.”

The forest scene was all above the bed so that he could see it all while going to sleep at night. Under the bed, I had done a mural of the inside of a house with him as the focal point again. This time, he was building a castle of legos and all of us fairies were helping him.

“It’s us again, Daddy, see, you are helping me.”

“I see that, Sonny Boy. Do you like it?”

He sounded so nervous you’d think he was the one who had painted it. Gus nodded his head vigorously and looked at me, and then at Brian.

“I love it, Daddy, Daddy Justin did good.”

I was ridiculously proud of the praise from a 5-year-old, but Brian gave me a smile that told me that he totally understood.

“Yeah, he really did, Sonny Boy, he really did.”

 **Brian POV ******

It was weird how spaced out the answers to our invitation came. I would have thought that with our ragtag friends and family, they would all answer as soon as they got the damn thing, but they didn’t.

The third answer was from Ted. He came into my office on a totally different errand, something about an account I had to sign off on.

“By the way, Bri, thanks for the invitation. I’m looking forward to it.”

I didn’t even have time to answer before he had left my office again.

They had started working on the upstairs loft and it looked like it was going to be great. The part to the right of the door, along the large windows, was going to be Justin’s studio. We had talked about taking down the platform the bedroom was on, but decided against it.

That space was going to be a place for him to hang his finished pieces and maybe show them off to gallery owners and agents, maybe even some buyers. They had taken down the glass partitions and the closet and put up ordinary walls instead. There had to be something for him to hang the paintings on, after all.

The stairs were still open and you could see into the room from the main area. They had opened up the back wall with three large windows, which allowed natural light to come into the room.

Cynthia was next.

“Either Justin worked on you, too, or you finally took my advice.” She waved the invitation under my nose and I just scoffed. “I’d love to come; can I bring a date?”

“You actually found someone to put up with your work hours?”

“Yeah, same as you have.”

She winked at me and left the office again. I was happy for her; she deserved it.

To the left, beyond the kitchen, was going to be office space for the both of us. That way, we could still be together if we each needed to do some work on the weekends.

The bathroom and the kitchen were going to stay intact; we were going to need bathroom facilities up there, both for ourselves and for the people coming to see his work. The kitchen was going to have an extra sink put in, one he could use to clean up his brushes and other art supplies in. We kept the original one for coffee and other sundry food related things.

Then, it was Mikey’s turn. I could hear that he was less than pleased, but I really didn’t care at that point. He had offered his opinion, but since it is my life, not his, I really didn’t listen anymore.

“So, Boy Wonder actually talked you into having a wedding reception. He must give amazing blowjobs.”

I ignored that remark.

“Are you going to be there?”

“Of course, Brian. Ben, Hunter and I’ll be there; wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

He sounded like he would rather have a root canal, but there was something else in his voice, almost like he expected something to happen at the party. I have to admit it made me a little nervous. I really hoped he hadn’t planned anything. If he ruined the night for Justin, I might have to throw him out the window; from the upstairs loft.

Now, we just had to wait for the upstairs to be finished; it looked like it would take a few days more than expected; there had been some problems getting the right kind of light for the new ‘gallery’. Natural light was not enough, especially since Pittsburgh in the winter isn’t exactly the lightest city in the world.

 **Justin POV ******

The upstairs finally got done on Monday, as it should have been done the Friday prior. They started on the stairs on Tuesday, and hopefully, they will be done Thursday, clean up on Friday and then, the wedding reception/house warming on Saturday. Damn, talk about stress, but Dale has promised us that it will be ready.

Daphne was so excited that her hair was bouncing all around her head.

“Shit, Justin, this is all you’ve ever dreamed of; I’m so happy for you.”

I gave her a hug and a huge smile.

“Are you bringing a date?”

“Is it ok if I do?”

“Of course, you told me about the new man in your life; we both want to meet him.”

She groaned. Brian was not exactly known for being gentle with her boyfriends; he was as protective of her as I was, but a lot blunter in his questions. I loved to watch them squirm under his unflinching stare. The thing is, if they couldn’t handle that, they would never last with Daph, anyway, so I just sat back and let him do his thing. Daphne knew it, too, and she didn’t exactly stop him, either.

Brian was also stressing about the hole Dale’s men are cutting in the floor/ceiling. If it had gone wrong, it would be close to impossible to make it look good when they repaired it. Thankfully, it went off without a glitch and they are currently fitting in the stairs and putting up rails at the top of the stairs. There will also be a child gate put in at each end; we really don’t want Gus to fall down the stairs.

Emmett was, strangely enough, the last person to answer. He had left a message on my cell and I could hardly hear a word he was saying he was squealing so loudly.

“Oh, baby, it’s so fabulous! I was a little miffed at first that you didn’t hire me, but I can’t stay mad at you two for long. I bought the most divine outfit for this shindig; I think you are going to love it. His majesty might not be as enthusiastic, but you can always work some of your magic on him and he’ll be gentle as a lamb in no time. See you later, baby; give that beautiful husband of yours a big ol’ smooch from me, tootles.”

It’s Thursday and we are really looking forward to the workers leaving and to getting our home to ourselves again; it’s a little disconcerting to have strangers traipsing in and out of your home like it’s just a construction site. Brian hasn’t been as inconvenienced by it as I have; he’s never home that early anyway, but I’ve had to either put up with the noise or go somewhere else for the afternoon when I’ve gotten home from school.

When I open the door to the downstairs loft, I’m greeted by Dale standing there with a big smile on his face.

“We’re done; we even took care of the cleaning today, since we were done before we thought we would be. We won’t be coming back tomorrow after all.”

I can feel a big smile creep out and I look around. The place looks immaculate and the stairs and railing are up and apparently working, since one of Dale’s men comes down it just then.

“Wow, Dale, that’s great. It looks good.”

I start up the stairs, looking at everything while I go. At the top of the stairs, the gate is closed and I can see why a child wouldn’t be able to open it. It required more fine motor skills than most kids possess.

I walk up into the old bedroom and look around. I still can’t believe that I have my own gallery of sorts. We had already hung a couple of my paintings up there and it looks amazing. The rest of the old loft is furnished, too; and my easel and work table look good up there. Our desks have been organized with our computers and there are book cases on either side of the tables and they are filled with binders, trade magazines, file folders on Brian’s side and school- and art books on my side.

I love this space; I have since I saw it the first time and I’m so glad we are keeping it; it has a lot of sentimental value for me, for Brian too, I think.

I look at Dale and give him a big smile.

“You really did an amazing job with this. Do you have your bill with you or are you going to send it to us?”

“I have it right here.”

He hands me the bill and I take out my brand new checkbook. Brian had insisted that we get a joint checking account. That way, I’d be able to do things like pay workers or whatever else may come up. I hadn’t protested too much; I know that our finances are nowhere near equal, but we are married, and for our marriage to work, we have to think in terms of we, us and our, not me, I and mine.

I filled out the check and gave it to him. I followed him down the stairs again and we said goodbye, and then, I closed the door. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then, I called Brian.

“Hey.”

“Hey, they’re done.”

“What do you mean done, just for the day…?”

“Nope, done as in not coming back, as in I got the bill and gave Dale a check, done.”

“Thank the fucking gods. It’s about time. I’ll be home early today; we can celebrate by christening every room.”

“Except Gus’. That would be too weird, even for us.”

When he came home, we fucked right inside the door, next to the stairs, then, in the living room before eating some take-out Thai. We continued in the gym, and then, we went to bed. The rest would have to wait for tomorrow. It’s not like it’s going anywhere; this is our home, hopefully, for the rest of our lives.


	6. Wedding reception

**Lindsay POV ******

Today is the day Brian is going to break Justin’s heart beyond repair; I just know it. When he sees us all there and realizes that he has actually gone against everything he believes in, he’ll tell Justin it was a mistake and throw him out. The poor boy will be devastated; I guess Mel and I can offer him a place to stay for a while, at least until he finds his own place. It’s not going to be anything as good as what Brian has gotten him used to, but he can’t expect to just coast through life, not having to suffer a little. So far, he’s had it all too easy, with Brian supporting him all the way.

Maybe, he won’t want to stay with us; he’d have to see Brian if he did. I mean, he does come over once in a while to see Gus. Maybe, it would be better if he were to move back in with his mother; that way, he doesn’t have to see Brian at all and he can start to heal faster. Yeah, I’ll suggest that.

 **Michael POV ******

Well, it’s farce time today. Brian Fucking Kinney having a wedding reception; as if. But, at least the Boy Wonder will be gone after tonight; there is no way he’ll stay around after Brian tells him what a mistake it was to get married.

I guess I’ll have to sacrifice ‘Rage’, but that’s a small price to pay to get rid of him. I never actually liked working with him; he was just the only person I knew that can draw worth a shit. Not that he’s actually as good as he himself thinks he is, but he did a decent enough job of it. Maybe I can buy him out and find someone else to draw the thing for a salary. Yeah, I’ll do that; he’ll probably welcome the money I’d give him for his half.

 **Justin POV ******

Everything is ready for the party; the guests are going to be here in about an hour. We told them to go to the top floor; we want to show them the upstairs loft first, before leading them downstairs.

I am taking a shower; the caterers are out in the kitchen with Brian. He showered while I showed them in and told them where to set up.

We picked up the cake earlier. It’s in six different boxes and we are supposed to assemble it ourselves when we are ready to take it out of the fridge. I’m scared shitless that we’ll ruin the damn thing. I better let Brian do it; my right hand is still not reliable enough for something like that.

I’m done with my shower and go out into the bedroom, thankful that we actually have walls and a door. I continue into the walk-in closet; this might be Brian’s favorite room in the entire loft, ok, that’s not true, but he does love this room. I can understand why; it’s beautifully done and there is room for all of his clothes and they are hung or folded neatly without being crammed; and for a label queen like him, that’s like heaven.

We bought new suits for the day; mine is charcoal gray and with it I’ll wear a white shirt and charcoal tie. It’s Armani, of course; Brian wouldn’t let me buy anything else; like I said, label queen. His is Armani, too, but his is black, his shirt is red and his tie is the exact same color as the shirt. He looks positively edible.

 **Brian POV ******

Justin came out of the bedroom in his new suit and I think I stopped breathing for a couple of seconds. Fuck, he’s beautiful. I’ve always known that, but right now, in that suit, looking so damn happy, he’s positively glowing. He smiles at me and just glows even more; I can’t help myself, I pull him to me and give him a kiss.

“How’s it going out here?”

“Almost done. Now, we just need the cake and the guests.”

He looks at his watch and then at me.

“I think you can take out the cake and assemble it now. We can put it in the fridge upstairs. If we take out the shelves it should fit. We’ll just have to be very careful when we carry it down the stairs later.”

“Ok, sounds like a plan. You take three boxes; I’ll take the last three.”

He nods and we go get the cake boxes out of the fridge; that way, we can put in some more white wine, beer, soda and water. I take the three largest boxes, leaving the smaller ones for Justin. I don’t want him straining his hand. I know that’s why he wants me to assemble the thing; he’s afraid his hand won’t hold out.

Justin takes out the shelves in the fridge while I open the boxes; for some damn reason, we hadn’t done that before and I just have this horrible thought that it might not be what we ordered. I needn’t have worried; the pieces look amazing. I can’t believe they can make icing in those colors, but they have.

Justin puts the surplus shelves in one of the cupboards, they are almost all empty, but some of them will soon be filled with brushes, paint cans, and other sundry things pertaining to Justin’s craft.

 **Justin POV ******

It’s almost time; Brian got the cake assembled without incident. Now, we just have to get it downstairs later without dropping it.

The caterers have gone; they will be back tomorrow for their bowls and plates. We have the fridge and the counter stocked with anything and everything anybody could wish to drink; now, all we need are some guests.

We are both upstairs when the buzzer sounds; nobody but us has keys to this place now. We even had the super change the locks on the street door when we started remodeling.

I hit the button for the door, and soon after, there was a knock on the door, and when I opened it, it was to find Deb, Carl, my mother, Molly and Molly’s friend Tiffany.

“Come on in, everybody.”

I gestured for them to step inside and they all looked around once in.

“Holy shit, Sunshine, this place looks nothing like it used to.”

“I know, it’s not supposed to; this is my studio and our office now.”

One by one, all of our friends turned up. Lindsay looked positively green with envy when she saw my workspace and the ‘gallery’.

Once they were all here, we gave them the 2 cent tour of the upstairs loft, what little they hadn’t looked at themselves before leading them all down the stairs to the living space of the downstairs loft.

We led them around, starting with the kitchen, living room, gym, Gus’ room and ending in the bedroom. When everybody was in the dining area once again, Brian banged a knife on a champagne bottle.

“Can I get everybody’s attention for a second?”

Everybody had been milling around talking, but stood still and listened when Brian spoke.

“As you all know, this is not just a housewarming for the new loft, but also a reception to celebrate our wedding. We have decided to do a little something since none of you were at the actual wedding.”

With that, he pulled out the ring box that had been in his jacket pocket. He took out my ring and put it on my outstretched ring finger. Then I took his ring and put it on him, and kissed him, long and deep. They were all clapping; well, except Michael and Lindsay, who looked like they didn’t believe their eyes.

“Well, the food is going to spoil if we don’t eat it, so dig in, everybody. There is white wine, beer, soda and water in the fridge and what else you could want to drink is on the kitchen counter as you can see. Enjoy!”

 **Brian POV ******

I saw the way both Lindz and Mikey looked at us when we put on the rings and I couldn’t believe either one of them. They looked so disappointed, like they had hoped that I would ‘come to my senses’ and dump Justin. Fuck, you’d think they would have gotten the message by now; I’m not doing anything but exactly what I want to, I’m with the person I want to be with, doing what I want to do, just like always.

The party was going great, I even got an ‘interrogation’ of Daphne’s new beau in; he wasn’t the least bit intimidated; good for him, he might last more than a month.

Everybody wanted to see our rings and they all admired them, even Carl, and he might just be the straightest guy I’ve ever met. Lindz and Mikey were the only ones not showing an interest; in fact, they kept pretty much to themselves all evening.

When it came time for the cake, Justin and I went upstairs and very carefully carried the thing down the spiral staircase. It was a harrowing few minutes, but we managed to deposit it on the kitchen counter without incident.

“You have to save the top tier for your first anniversary.”

Deb took it off, put it in a freeze-safe container and stuck the red miniature top tier in the freezer. None of the layers were all that big, so the top one was nothing more than a cupcake in size.

We cut the first piece of the cake and even fed each other with it, without smearing it all over each other, and then, the rest of them got a piece.

At some point during the evening, Lindsay and Michael came up to me, together.

“Why are you doing this, Brian? It’s not who you are.”

Lindsay looked so indignant, and I was just about to answer when Michael gave his two cents.

“You know you are going to regret this at some point, and then where will you be?”

I was so furious with the both of them and didn’t want to get into it with them. I was just going to walk away when Justin joined us.

“Are you enjoying the party, guys?”

“No, what have you done to him, Justin? How can you let him do this; you know it’s not who he is.”

Justin looked thoroughly shocked, and that was the last straw.

“Listen to me, are you listening?” They both nodded, so I went on. “I am not doing anything I don’t want to. I asked Justin to marry me because I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him. If my two so-called best friends can’t be happy for me, you can both fuck off.”

They looked at me with their mouths hanging open before they both turned on their heels and walked to the other end of the loft where they stayed, sulking the rest of the evening.

It was almost 3 AM when the last of the guests left and we could finally get to bed. We were exhausted, and actually fell asleep without fucking, not something that happens all that often. It had been a great day and a great party, even if my two oldest friends couldn’t seem to find it in themselves to be happy for me.


End file.
